


Salty waves (Reader x Huangshan Maofeng Tea)

by Cry_Kitty



Category: Food Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Food Fantasy - Freeform, Food Souls x Master Attendant, Huangshan Maofeng, Huangshan Maofeng Tea, Romance, Sakurajima, i need more of Mao, let me be happy(ly write fanfiction), sweet romance, valentine´s is around the corner okay?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-21 15:45:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17645696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cry_Kitty/pseuds/Cry_Kitty
Summary: Sakurajima is surrounded by the ocean. Living on the coast is a beautiful dream destroyed by poverty. Even though Huangshan Maofeng is your food soul, he´s been living quite comfortably up on his mountain without ever being called to duty. Will the insincere priest ever become reliable?





	Salty waves (Reader x Huangshan Maofeng Tea)

**Author's Note:**

> It took eighty draws to get this bastard! EIGHTY!!! All my soul embers and almost all my crystals are GONE.  
> ...Yet I can´t complain, I´m overjoyed Q_Q
> 
> Also, are there no ff with him yet? :(

I loved living by the ocean. Every morning I´d hear the waves which had lovingly sang me to sleep the night before as if it was their motherly duty and was greeted by a salty outside doorknob as soon as I left the house. Every time I wiped it clean with my sleeve, keen on coming back and scaling how rough nature chose to be today.

With light steps my feet carried me up the small mountain, hopping from one stone plate to another. The temple was a frequently visited place, yet you rarely heard anything other than the birds. The surrounding old treeline quieted the harsh whispers of the sea with their mighty limbs like they´d put a blanket over the waves, and if you squinted through the leaves and fir needles you could still make out some blue shining through the forest.

Like almost every day the mighty priest was seated in the open entrance hall, his bamboo tube never further than a few feet away. I could only smile seeing his dutiful, wise façade. More than a dozen times I had caught him eagerly counting coins when he thought nobody was watching or giving uncertain and suspicious answers in his readings. Being so close to him, I knew what he was really like. 

Yet still, I came here every day. “Good morning, priest.” – “Ah, hello my child. I knew you would come today.” That´s because I come here every day, I thought, giggling under my breath. We had a contract, yes, but I never made use of it. Having drawn him when I was a very small child, I was overwhelmed with the responsibility and simply left him to be. Years later, my awkwardness of ordering another being around kept me from calling him home. Seeing him now, lazing the day away and ducking out of work, maybe that was the wrong choice.

“Tell me, Mao, will another ship wash ashore this month?” Huangshan seemed bored when I always asked the same, but so did everyone in town. No news for us. He opened his mouth when I leapfrogged him, something he was also used to. “No, wait. Don´t tell me yet! I mean did you see the things we found last time? A silver fork and butter knives and mum even let me keep them.” The green of the priest´s clothing reflected in his deep eyes, and he relaxed and rested his chin on his palm to hear me out. I knew how impatient he could be but his presence was so calming.

“Yuna snatched the little doll away before I could even take a good look at it, though. But then I made her frown when I told to think of the little girl that used to play with it. She´s in the ocean now, probably. Oh! And I also found a box but dad wouldn´t let me open it! I wanna find out why, I think it countains letters that he thinks are not meant for my eyes, but they aren´t his so why shouldn´t I see them? Mao, just think about what I could find next, ah I can´t wait!”

While I kept on excitedly rambling, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards a few times and he shook his bamboo tube out of boredom. When someone else came up the stairs, he straightened up. “There´s clientele, child.” I wanted to protest but he shook his head. “Hello Mister, I knew you would come here today to have your fortunes told by me.”  And in a matter of seconds he was fixed on his potential client. “Hurry home now child, I got to work.”  “But you haven´t told me yet if a ship comes!” “Well, come back tomorrow.” No amount of pouting and glares did anything to change the brown haired man´s mind, when he dismissed me with a dapper wave of hand and I trotted back home, angrily kicking stones.

Then one morning, I reached the age where it was time to move out. The house of my parents had protected me and my sisters from the outside world, but our town was small and the whole land was already leased. Sakurajimas isles left no space for newcomers, so I would seak out Gloriville and live with my aunt until I found a profession. The day of my departure came so soon that it felt unreal when I woke up. Upon leaving my house for the last time, I started thinking if I should ask him to come with me.

Today my legs felt heavy as I stepped up the mountain, each meter minted with uncertainty. Even though I came here to ask, I already knew the answer… Huangshan´s face kept blank as I told him. “Well, I wanted to ask… well, technically you´re my food soul…” The question died in my throat. Even now, I was unable to order, unable to demand something so drastic from another being. He had lived here too, after all. The priest avoided my gaze, reaching into his bamboo tube with stiff fingers to pull out a lettered stick.

“Ah, like I thought. You got to find your own way, child. The world is big and you have to build your own place. Go, go. You shouldn´t wait, misfortune lies in the west.” It was silent for a few moments, and neither dared to speak. There was pain in the absence of the right words, in the answer that I had received without even asking. It was like I thought.

My tongue felt unable to move and I swallowed dryly, I couldn´t say goodbye when Mao still refused to look at me. With a heavy heart I turned around and left, feeling as drained as if I had carried two buckets of water up the steps. When I left the town gates behind, I was still hoping he would eventually follow. My family would visit him from time to time as everyone in the town did, they would tell him where I was headed for sure!

As I was walking alongside a river and caught up in my thoughts suddenly someone tackled me down full force. I landed with my face in the dirt, panic rushing through my system as I tried my hardest to turn around and push the attacker off me, yet he held me down with a single arm that pushed down so heavily on my shoulder that it felt like a violent current went through my upper body. It was a rice field worker, with rough hands and the Sakurajima representative jacket. Instinctively I started screaming, hoping that someone would hear and come to my rescue, yet the man punched me so hard in the face with his other fist that I was feeling dizzy. Next thing the man was trying to open my jacket, yet he hadn´t even gotten to the second button when he was violently yanked off.

I couldn´t believe my eyes. “Mao?” Never before had I seen the priest in this state. Green eyes almost glowing from rage, he grabbed the man with a strength I´d never known he possessed and tossed him into the river. His expression changed when he saw my bruised face and he slumped down next to me, pulling my body up to cradle me in a desperate embrace.

“Oh, what have I done… how can you possibly forgive me for letting this happen?”

My head still felt a little dizzy, yet I buried my face against his chest. Huangshan held me tight, smoothing down my hair as he closed his eyes. All the things he couldn´t say because his pride forbid it, I still understood and smiled. He leaned down to gently kiss my forehead. “From this day on, I swear to protect you.”

As he pulled back, his eyes glistened with tears that would never run free. “But why are you here, Mao? I thought you-“ - “I can´t possibly neglect my best costumer, can I?”

At last, I was put out of my duty to make orders. Because from now on, I knew wherever I was going, my food soul would finally follow on his own.


End file.
